Chipotle Core competency

Chipotle ventured into a new territory when it was created, as it had an innovative vision for fast-casual restaurants. By using fresh and quality ingredients, Chipotle raised the bar in their segment. The service line where customers could see their order being prepared enhanced the experience of Chipotle. Consumers who were used to eating at fast-casual restaurants where the food was frozen and made out of sight were able to savor the uniqueness of Chipotle. These differences helped Chipotle become successful. However, as competitors copy the traits that make Chipotle unique, Chipotle must adapt and overcome in order to remain a profitable company.

As demonstrated in Exhibit 1 on page 143, the company’s total revenue increased from $1.085.782 million dollars to $3.214.591 million dollars in less than seven years. Beginning at the end of 2007 through the end of 2013, Chipotle’s Mexican Grill total revenues increased at a CAGR of 19.83%. The new provided catering program, the six elements of their strategy adapted to other cuisines (ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen) and the growing number of new restaurants are decisive aspects in increasing revenue yearly.

Chipotle’s organizational structure is centered on the functional structure. The top levels of management include the co-CEOs, CFO, Head-Media Relations, and Chief Creative and Development Officer CCDO (Chipotle). Chipotle is a smaller corporation relative to its competitors, which allows it to focus on a vertical hierarchy based on functions. The fact that there are few departments demonstrates that Chipotle is still a growing corporation. Chipotle is a highly centralized corporation as all of its stores are corporate owned and they must follow the rules set by the corporate headquarters this involves the same menu throughout the country and the same prices. The restaurant business follows high levels of formalization a set of guidelines must be followed in order to comply with food and health regulations. There is low division of labor at the restaurant level as those cooking can shift to serving and cleaning when needed, allowing the allocation of labor to match whatever is needed in the situation. A unique aspect of Chipotle’s upper management is the fact that there are two CEOs (Feloni). The two CEO help ease job functions and enables them to be more accessible. Another managerial aspect of Chipotle is the through the position of restaurateur. There are 183 of these positions and they work to manage several Chipotles, bringing management close to each store (Investor’s Business Daily). From their organizational structure we can see they place high importance on

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast casual Mexican Restaurant that operates from the United States. Although the restaurant is specifically segmented to the fast casual Mexican restaurant market, it does not simply operate in this realm. Chipotle is also successful operating in the restaurant market as well. According to the Trefis Team (2014) Chipotle Mexican Grill has managed to take market share from restaurants in the fast food industry.

Additionally, support for local and organic farming has shown a decrease in fast food sales. Recently fast food giant, Mcdonalds, has had to close nearly 700 restaurants due to lack of sales (Wahba). The general public is speaking out more and is stating they want fewer additives and more “real” food to be convenient. According to the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION “GMO’s or “Genetically Modifies Organisms” are organisms in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not naturally occur”. The actual effects of GMO’s in food have had extensive research done to confirm suspicions that they are hazardous to the human body and are not suitable for consumption. Chipotle was the first fast food chain to disclose any artificial ingredients

With the right ingredients, speed, quality and leadership, Chipotle has reinvented the fast-food business. Serving food with integrity has produced big profits.

The Fast food industry is extremely competitive. Although Chipotle is a step up from most fast food restaurants, it still must

Chipotle is facing numerous challenges due to the fact that E. coli outbreak which requires the corporation from the key stakeholders to keep it under control and apply the new food safety protocols which can aid to bring the regular customers back. Although the main cause remains a mystery, Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak has been authoritatively declared officially over by the experts. However, since the poisoning outbreak, the impact of the reduced number of customers affects the profit which the company used to enjoy before such eventuality (Scholes 27).

Chipotle’s kitchen and restaurant design intentionally places employees up front to reinforce a focus on service, through interaction with customers and individual attention by creating one burrito at a time (Chipotle, 2011, p. 5). While Chipotle combines basic ingredients to magnify the flavor they also stick to the basics when staffing their restaurants. Chipotle only has two shifts and cross trains their

Chipotle is the leader in the fast casual market, with over 1,900 locations, $3.21 billion in annual revenue, and the ability to serve up to 300 customers an hour. It has innovated the restaurant market by providing reasonably priced scratch-made meals, containing local ingredients, all within the confines of a pleasing aesthetic environment (Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 2014; Kaplan, 2011). To reach its success, the firm utilized architectural innovation by stealing components of various types of restaurants already in existence. The company appropriated its rapid meal preparation methods from fast food chains such Subway and Quiznos, adopted its provision of quality food from more upscale casual Mexican restaurants, and implemented a locally based supply chain similar to that seen at many local farm-to-table establishments. This convergence of different properties came together right as the millennial generation was coming of age and demand higher quality, natural, and locally sourced ingredients in meals that could receive quickly. The company has also attempted to utilize an incremental innovation approach by removing all CMO ingredients and testing new foods such as breakfast items, soup, and chorizo sausage (The Associated Press, 2015; Peterson,

Management is the backbone of any good company. In order for a company to successful, a strong management team is needed in order to meet goals in an effective and efficient manner. Chipotle opened its doors in 1993 when Steve Ells took a chance and began his business in San Francisco. Chipotle is a chain of Mexican restaurants that is based in Denver. Chipotle is often cited as the company that started the fast casual movement where customers can get a healthy prepared meal quicker than other traditional styled restaurant. The fast casual restaurant concept was well received and Chipotle’s popularity expanded all across the United States. Customers could not get enough of the Mexican chain and massive lines could be seen stretching outside the stores all across the country. Along with its popular food, Chipotle Mexican Style Grill is a company that contains a successful management style. Why? What sets this companies management apart from the rest? There are many factors that we could analyze to understand the success of Chipotle, yet for the purpose of this paper, we will look into the cooperate culture of the company, human resource management, their leadership style, and how Chipotle deals with and how the company manages in times of crisis.

Steve Ells is the founder and CEO of Chipotle. Steve is a trained chef and opened his first Chipotle store in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream store in Denver, Colorado. His goal was to serve high quality, delicious food quickly and in a “fast-casual” setting (Ells).

Chipotle is a fast casual dining establishment that serves Mexican cuisine, specializing in burritos and tacos. Like other fast casual restaurants, it does not offer full table service, but promises a higher quality of food with fewer frozen or processed ingredients than fast food restaurants. In fact, Chipotle is widely known for its mission to only use organic ingredients and

* High quality products with the best raw materials (naturally raised beef, pork and chicken)

I believe one segment of the Chipotle customer population is the self-expression people. These people are the kind of customers that want to express their values of supporting the local farmers and the farmer’s mission of growing organic food and their way of supporting that movement is by patronizing this kind of restaurant.